Site of Ireland's first planted potato

On the 3rd October 2014, National Potato Day, we celebrate the humble spud by trawling through our audio portfolio to reveal where it is thought Ireland cultivated its first potato. We fully understand that this by no means a scientific fact, but there's a great background story to the place and the man who (allegedly) planted it anyway.

The potato had reached Europe courtesy of returning Spanish explorers around 1570. How the potato came to be introduced into Ireland is not precisely known, though popular myth credits its introduction at Myrtle Grove, the home of Sir Walter Raleigh in the historic town of Youghal, Co. Cork. Other evidence has suggested it was washed up on the shores of Cork after the wreck of the Spanish Armada in the area, but we're sticking with what we known from the good folk of Youghal. 

Find details of the Youghal audio tours halfway done this page: 
https://www.racontour.com/racontour/native-audio-apps/ 

Audio: Clifford Windsor, 2011
Text: John Ward

#potato #Youghal #Raleigh #spud #Cork